When I go back to life on the farm the two most used pieces of furniture in our house was the kitchen or dining room tables. Not just for meals to be served on, although so many meals and great feasts were consumed around them but also we did our homework there and bills were paid there. Mom being a teacher graded homework papers there as did my sister Peg (also a teacher.) We played cards as a family around these tables. We sometimes would just sit down with company and chat at the table.
The part that came to me that day was after I grew up and my immediate family went their ways and I married and we started a new chapter in life we still put plates on our kitchen table and ate there and as I said we still do to this day. It is not just a habit and it is not a tradition. The tables in a home in most cases are the center of the home. The piece of furniture where family and friends frequently gather to eat or converse. So based on all that it is safe to say the homes table or tables are a part of the family
Growing up we had a very nice cherry dining room table and five chairs. In the kitchen there was a round oak table and five chairs also that was plain but served its’ purpose. Each came with table leaves and when the tables didn’t have them in then probably only family was using them but when the leaves expanded the tables to their fullest size there was one of two things about to happen. Either mom was serving lunch for farm hands or even better, we were about to have a big family gathering that meant my vision of what a feast was. (And that was an awesome meal in my mind!) We held a lot of holiday and special occasion feasts and being with the family was very enjoyable. Almost as much as the special dishes that were prepared. When Peg and Ben were still at home and there were five of us mom installed a couple leaves on the kitchen table so we didn’t elbow each other so much. I quickly learned that Peg an Ben did their best to be the first at the table so they could get a certain seat on one side of the table. Where the leaves connected on that one side was warped and whoever sat there, their plate sat uneven and a table knife was placed under one side of the plate to make it level and keep your meal from slipping off the plate if it was very liquidly. Now being a nice my brother and sister I’m certain they just forgot to inform me of this but I eventually I learned on my own.
I saw so many people come to see my dad about business or just to visit and they would sit for hours drinking coffee or iced tea along with some of moms Tolle House cookies at the table Serious family matters about school or finances etc. were dealt with at the table. There were not places designated for all the electronic equipment as is today as none existed yet, so anything from writing checks to writing letters again took place at the table. There are 3 main rooms in a house. Living room, dining room, and kitchen. 2 out of 3 rooms had the table with chairs and therefore was the furniture that comes to mind first and foremost.
I’m just realizing that tables have been in my adulthood life and now my children’s also and we may have used them a little differently but we still gather round them and while eating we share what is going to happen or what did in a day. It is the place where sharing our thoughts and opinions come forth. Guess what? Most all families have and are doing the same thing my family has done. Now I look at the simple table in a much different way than I ever have before and with a little more respect, Webster’s Dictionary says a table is a level plateau, and a flat plain. We can’t argue with the dictionary because it does put us all on the equal flat plain with all those at the table. Realize it, respect it and use it.
Rick Houser was raised on a farm near Moscow in Clermont County and likes to share stories about his youth and other topics. He may be reached at houser734@yahoo.com